This invention relates to a bulb socket with a connector, and more particularly to a bulb socket having an improved terminal construction, as well as a method of producing such a bulb socket.
In a bulb socket of this kind, a connector housing is formed integrally with a socket housing of a plastic material, and terminals are provided therein. Conventionally, this terminal includes an integral bulb-side terminal portion exposed in the socket housing for contact with a bulb and an integral connector-side terminal portion exposed in the connector housing for contact with a feeder connector, and this terminal is fixed to the housing by insert molding during the molding of the socket housing.
In the bulb socket of the above construction, however, the terminal has a complicated shape, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that the cost of a mold for insert molding is high. Because the terminal is large in size and is complicated in shape, the dimensional accuracy of the terminal is poor. As a result, there have arisen problems in that resin flows into the terminal during insert molding, the terminal interferes with and may be deformed by a mold, and the retaining of the terminal by the mold becomes inadequate, so that the deformation of the terminal by a resin-injecting pressure, as well as an improper flow of the resin, can easily develop. Moreover, because of the complicated shape of the terminal, it is, in some cases, difficult to use an automation system employing a part feeder, which is disadvantageous from the viewpoint of manufacturing costs.
Furthermore, since the terminal is of an integral construction formed from a single electrically-conductive plate, the bulb-side terminal portion for contact with the bulb and the connector-side terminal portion for contact with the connector are made of the same material. However, for example, the connector-side terminal portion should preferably have a plate thickness of about 0.6 mm in connection with the associated connector, whereas the bulb-side terminal portion should preferably have a plate thickness of about 0.4 mm to secure a pressure of contact with the bulb. Thus, despite the fact that the characteristics required for different portions are different, these could not be satisfied with the conventional terminal.